There are numerous industries where it is desirable or necessary to ascertain the contents of containers. Both domestic and international applications exist. Domestic applications are replete, for example, in law enforcement, the military, border control, and transport and shipping. In the International community, international border control, training, and treaty convention efforts are significant applications. Other applications include efforts to deter illicit drug manufacturing and smuggling, to collect taxes and tariffs, to effectively maintain inventories, and to verify and ensure treaty compliance. Further, the diversity of needs within any given industry is wide and complex. For example, in industries ranging from foods processing to chemical inventory management, material quality and process control are central to achieving high standards of product performance and safety.
Because of the large number of containers which are shipped both domestically and internationally, including those being transported across domestic and international borders, there is a particular need for a relatively fast and effective way to conduct non-intrusive interrogation of containers. Desirably, this should be able to be accomplished in a manner that not only permits identification of materials within the container (e.g. liquids, solids, bulk materials, etc.), but also ascertains the presence of objects which would not be expected to be in a container. For example, there may be a package containing contraband being smuggled across an international boundary concealed or submerged within a container of liquid or otherwise hidden within a bulk material.
Ultrasound has certain advantages, one of which is that it can easily penetrate dense materials, including liquids, that often defeat x-ray inspection methods. And, therefore, ultrasound has found application in such diverse industries as the medical profession and industrial quality control, in such applications as detecting defects in materials and determining liquid fill levels.
However, there exists a long-standing need to provide an ultrasound system for non-intrusive/non-invasive examination, and/or investigation of a diversity of containers, where the examination can take place conveniently, rapidly, and reliably, and where the overall inspection process is “user friendly”. Current systems rely heavily on expensive and time-consuming direct sampling as well as laboratory analysis. From standpoints of purpose, ease of use, cost, size, and flexibility, the embodiments of the present invention are distinctive.